Now healthy, Nighthawk looks toward league tennis tourney

Peter Stratton, right, with brother Andrew. Both are playing tennis at Del Norte High School.

Peter Stratton, right, with brother Andrew. Both are playing tennis at Del Norte High School. (Courtesy photo)

TERRY MONAHAN

Coming off last spring’s tennis season when Del Norte’s Peter Stratton, then a junior, teamed with senior Patrick Trhac to capture the San Diego Section doubles championship, this promised to be quite a senior season for Stratton.

But there has not been much to smile about since that 6-3, 6-0 title-clinching victory in the 2017 finals.

Instead, there was hardly any senior year at all for Stratton.

Stratton, a singles player now, has returned from injury in time for the postseason, receiving a waiver from the CIF to compete despite not having played the minimum of 10 matches during the regular season for the Nighthawks, who finished 12-3 but lost a first-round match against Canyon Crest by virtue of games won 9-9 (84-79) in the opening round of the team playoffs.

Playing this week in the Palomar League Tournament, Stratton is hoping to continue his injury comeback as his prep career winds down.

“It was big for me and my school to be the first ones to win a CIF doubles title,’’ Stratton said. “It was a pretty solid moment for Patrick and me.’’

Back in January, after a tournament match in Palm Desert, the luster from that exciting victory dimmed a bit.

The 5-foot-8 Stratton noticed his left side began feeling weaker and weaker and there was nothing he could do to strengthen it.

“Anytime I would push off that left leg, it was painful,’’ Stratton said. “Landing on that leg or sprinting to the ball or going side-to-side hurt a lot. I never had those problems back as a sophomore. Basically, it all started last year.’’

The pain was diagnosed as IT Band Syndrome, an inflammation of the ligament that runs from the hamstring that extends from the knee to the hip and is more common among long-distance runners. Stratton’s knee became painful because the iliotibial band was not working properly.

“He never panics and he didn’t when the pain started,’’ Del Norte coach Cherise Meoli said. “He just does what he has to do. He doesn’t freak out. No one has Peter’s intensity on the court.’’

While he has been limited to just seven matches heading into the league tournament, brother Andrew, a 5-7 sophomore, sustained the same injury and has been limited to one match before this week.

“I feel like I was going to play better than last year when Patrick and I won CIF doubles,’’ he said. “There are a lot of good guys playing in singles this year.’’

Stratton pointed to Ben Gollin of La Jolla Country Day as one of the pre-tournament favorites.

“I’ve never beaten him in any tournaments,’’ Stratton said. “He has bigger strokes and kind of overpowers me.’’

Strengthening his legs is one of his offseason priorities to ward off any lingering effects of this injury in the future.

“I’ll have to focus on lower body in the weight room now,’’ he said. “For now, I want to score points in a match much earlier than I used to, go to the net more.

Next fall, Stratton will continue his playing career at UC San Diego, where he will major in computer science.

He still worries his injury woes will follow him to the La Jolla campus.

“Now that college is getting even closer, it makes me worried even more,’’ Stratton said. “I want to enjoy these final high school moments, but I can’t wait to get out of the house and go to college.’’